Fortnite Banned from Apple App Store: Epic Games

The Apple App Store imposed a ban on Fortnite, Epic Games revealed. Apple has decided to keep Epic Games' Fortnite off the App Store indefinitely, pending the conclusion of the legal battle (including appeals) with the developer, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney stated on Wednesday. Apple's move could keep Fortnite banned from the App Store for years while the legal process is completed, he explained on Twitter.

On Wednesday, Sweeney took to Twitter to criticize Apple's move to maintain the Fortnite ban indefinitely, saying, "This is another extraordinary anti-competitive move from Apple, demonstrating its power to reshape markets and pick winners and losers." The company had previously stated that it was going to appeal the court's decision. However, the process could take years, resulting in a loss of revenue for Epic Games in the process.

The CEO tweeted that Apple had previously stated that it would "appreciate Epic's return to the App Store if it agrees to play by the same rules as everyone else." Sweeney argued that Epic had agreed and shared a letter addressed to Apple's partner Phil Schiller where Epic promised to adhere to the company's guidelines. He alleged that Apple has breached its promise of "another abuse of its monopoly power over one billion users."

Sweeney also shared a letter sent to the company and tweeted that Apple had informed Epic that Fortnite would be blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem "until exhaustion of all court appeals," adding that it could be up to five years until to be completed. . According to The Guardian, Apple confirmed the authenticity of the letter but did not comment on it.

Apple and Epic Games' significant case involving the former's App Store policies ended earlier this month when a US court prevented Apple from preventing developers from informing users about alternative payment systems. , but it didn't force Apple to allow third-party app stores on its iOS operating system for iPhones. The court ruled that Apple had engaged in anti-competitive conduct, but Epic had not shown that Apple was an "illegal monopolist" as the company had claimed in its lawsuit.